Biography
David Mathews was the loyalist Mayor of New York City. In June 1776 he was arrested and accused of involvement in the so-called Hickey Plot, an alleged conspiracy to aid the British and, in the most sensational rumor, to assassinate General George Washington. Handed over to the Connecticut authorities, he was imprisoned at Litchfield, but escaped in November 1777 and made his way back to British-held New York. He never stood trial; after the war he was banished, his property was confiscated, and he resettled in Nova Scotia.
Case
Litchfield Gaol
